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Ryder and Internet Pioneer Team Up on Web

Ryder Systems, Miami, has entered the Web wars with a site called pFreight.com aimed squarely at individual drivers and small fleets and headed by Internet load-matching pioneer Scott Moscripp.

Ryder is an investor in the site, found on the Web at www.pfreight.com.According to Kim Fricke, vice president of sales and marketing, the “p” in pFreight.com stands for “paperless.” He said the company is headquartered in Fruitland, Idaho, just three miles from the offices of Internet Truckstop, the first load-matching service on the Web, established by Moscripp in 1995. With Internet Truckstop’s load-matching service as part of its initial offerings, pFreight.com begins with a substantial leg up in Web competition.Moscripp has been openly critical of many Internet marketplaces and freight auctions, claiming they tend to hurt carriers by driving down rates. In a recent interview with Heavy Duty Trucking, Moscripp was asked to comment on the pack of heavily financed Internet transportation markets now launching. “A lot of them are going to go broke,” he said.According to Fricke, Moscripp’s site will rely on load matching, not brokerage, though it will handle virtually all aspects of a typical freight transaction. Fricke said the site will offer a comprehensive array of services. A page on the site lists “load matching, contract administration, load tendering and acceptance, route optimization, fuel tax calculation and payment, load status tracking, billing and payment, in cab communications, roadside assistance, preventative maintenance programs” and more. As with most Web transportation sites, however, pFreight.com will only offer a few services initially. The rest will be phased in over time.pFreight.com’s revenues will come both from subscriptions and per-transaction fees, Fricke said. While he declined to estimate what a typical driver subscription would cost, Fricke did say it would include services worth at least $500 to $600 a month, including a mobile communications system. He also noted that initial trucking subscribers would receive free services during the site’s pilot period.According the site, “pilot carriers will have free access to freight finding, track and trace, messaging, weather conditions, road conditions, and more. All qualified applicants will receive free communications services for the duration of the pilot.”A notice on the site says pFreight.com is specially interested in truckers equipped with Qualcomm or Intouch in-cab communications, truckers who run primarily up and down the East Coast and truckers who run long-haul routes.